RALEIGH, N.C. — When a group of North Carolina State University students moved out of their off-campus apartment ahead of the new school year, not only did their landlord refuse to return their $3,100 security deposit, she sent them a $23,000 bill, a joint WCNC Charlotte and WRAL News investigation found.
Most of the charges stemmed from her dislike of a homemade table made for drinking games.
"She was claiming it was garbage," former renter Tyler Parziale said. "This is a personal preference thing. Not an actual piece of trash in your yard."
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.
The college senior from Charlotte continues to fight back against charges his family calls "excessive" and "ridiculous."
"I think this is to try and scare us," he said. "I know a lot of people my age and in this position would bend easily."
The landlord
Evagelia Eustathiou, the property landlord who goes by the name Lisa, sent Parziale and his roommates the bill in late August, listing 21 charges in all. Some of the fees were tied to cleaning the house and yard. Another $18,250 in fines, calculated based on $50 per day for 365 days, were linked to their refusal to remove "non authorized and not allowed non patio furniture."
The table
Text messages show Eustathiou considered the table in violation of the lease, citing concerns about it being a nuisance, unsafe and unsanitary and disturbing to other tenants' "peaceful enjoyment" of the property.
"She hated that table," Tyler's mother Carrie Parziale said. "She just took advantage and wherever she could charge, she charged. I looked at the total and I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'"
Fees and fines
Separate from the $18,250 for the table, the landlord charged interest on "money owed at a rate of 25%," which totaled $2,786.65, the letter shows. The bill is a continuation of a much smaller previous collection attempt she made, where she warned of a possible breach in their agreement tied to the table Tyler Parziale and his roommates built.
"She eventually paid someone late at night to try and take it from us," Tyler Parziale said of the table he eventually chained to the porch and refused to unlock.
Records show the landlord charged him $150 for that worker's failed trip.
"It may have not been a beautiful piece of furniture, but it was their personal property," his mom said. "My son knew what his rights were and he was not going to let her determine how they were going to live. He was well within his means to stand up for himself and not be taken advantage of."
The bill also listed hundreds of dollars for trips Eustathiou made. The landlord noted she traveled from Greensboro to Raleigh over two days in December 2022 to clean the apartment.
Parziale said they've refused to pay any of the fees.
Legal advocates' continued battle
NCSU Student Legal Services staff attorney Michael Avery said the nonprofit has remained aware of this particular landlord for nearly 15 years.
"It's a name that as soon as you say it, I know it," Avery said. "It's an issue of concern for us."
Avery said Eustathiou has largely been unresponsive to concerns over the years. Tax records show she owns four properties on Dixie Trail in Raleigh, as well as several properties in Greensboro.
"For such a small amount of properties, we certainly see an inordinate amount of complaints about those properties," he said. "Probably the most common complaint that we see from students is they allege there's been unjust, unlawful and sometimes even fraudulent claims against the security deposit."
Other renters
Records show this isn't the first time Eustathiou has tried to recoup money at the end of a lease. WCNC Charlotte and WRAL News obtained two additional letters identifying thousands of dollars worth of disputed charges to separate groups of students who rented two of her other Dixie Trail homes. One of those students is also from Charlotte.
Renters of both properties told WCNC Charlotte and WRAL News the landlord has refused to return their subsequent $6,250 and $4,000 security deposits.
Legal help
Isaac Sturgill, the director of the Legal Aid of Charlotte's Eviction Prevention Project, said landlords could face steep fines of their own for trying to collect fees that aren't spelled out in a lease or allowed by the law.
"Over $20,000, I've never seen something like that before," Sturgill said. "Landlords can't just make up fees and start charging them. If the charge is not authorized under the lease or authorized by the law and the landlord's trying to collect it, the landlord would be committing debt collection violations every time they try to charge a fee that's not lawful."
North Carolina's unfair debt collection law can force landlords to pay anywhere from $500 to $4,000 per violation. Sturgill said Legal Aid, a nonprofit law firm, routinely files claims against landlords who try to collect unauthorized fees. He said part of Legal Aid's mission is to educate renters about their protections.
"Debt collection violations are pretty common," Sturgill said. "We are successful with those claims."
Sturgill said landlord-tenant law is complicated and renters can benefit from working with an attorney.
Landlord's response
Eustathiou, the registered agent for the rental real estate business Apollon LLC, did not respond to WCNC Charlotte and WRAL News' request for an on-camera interview. By phone, she conceded the fees tied to the table were not listed in the lease, but defended the charges levied against Parziale and his roommates. She called the table "disgusting."
"(The fee) was not in the lease, but I do not allow tenants to move their items and put them in the yard," she said. "This is the first time that I had a tenant to not conform with a request that I have. I have the right to ask them to remove what I do not consider to be appropriate for the property and it was his table."
Unannounced visits
The students also raised concerns about how often Eustathiou would visit to show the home to future tenants, including on weekend mornings.
"She would appear unannounced, prowl the property," Tyler Parziale said. "If we didn't make our beds at 8:00 on a Saturday morning, if we had shoes on our floor in our rooms, there was a fee there."
Eustathiou maintains she gave them 24-hour notice over text message every time before showing the home. She also said Parziale "trashed up the house."
After a September 2022 visit, Eustathiou charged the students "for lack of abiding by the Lease Agreement, acting and displaying a 'bravado' type of attitude and sabotaging the property to prospective tenants."
Her final bill included a $650 fee for a trip she and a locksmith made to the house to replace locks in all four bedrooms "from which access to me had been blocked."
Refusal to pay
Carrie Parziale said she's proud of Tyler for standing his ground.
"It's a pattern of behavior and it's wrong. I can't imagine how many other people that this has affected," the mother said. "I just feel for those kids, because they're the ones that have to live it. I'm angry because my child had to live that."
The family refuses to pay the bill. Tyler, meanwhile, has since moved to a new place.
"It was just a wave of relief," he said. "I was at peace for once."
He said his homemade table isn't causing any problems there.
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte's Where's The Money series is all about leveling the playing in the Carolinas by helping others and breaking down barriers. WCNC Charlotte doesn't want our viewers to be taken advantage of, so we’re here to help. Watch previous stories where we ask the question “Where’s the Money” in the YouTube playlist below and subscribe to get updated when new videos are uploaded.